


You're so stupid and fragile.

by raefraldarius



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22984075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raefraldarius/pseuds/raefraldarius
Summary: Sylvain panics when Felix gets hurt and realizes he should probably tell him his feelings before he no longer can.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	You're so stupid and fragile.

Felix wrenched his eyes open and stared blankly at the dark ceiling of his room in Garreg Mach Monastery. It was close to 2 am at this point and he had to be up tomorrow at 6 am to embark on the Blue Lion’s first mission to the Red Canyon to take down a group of bandits.

Felix isn’t nervous, that’s not it. He’s definitely looking forward to when he can finally practice his swordsmanship on real human flesh rather than training dummies. He is confident in his abilities and confident in the fact that the Professor will lead the group to victory. But there is just a small feeling gnawing at him, and has been gnawing at him ever since the Professor approached the group with this new mission.

Sylvain.

Sylvain isn’t dumb. He also is very strong and exceptional when it comes to wielding a lance. The Professor has even been teaching him beginner magic so Sylvain can even do ranged attacks if it comes down to it. So why won’t this weird feeling in the pit on Felix’s stomach go away when he thinks of Sylvain and Sylvain on the battlefield? Is it worry? Despite Sylvain being more than capable in combat? 

Felix sits up in the pitch black room and rubs his face vigorously with both hands. _Get it together. He’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. The Professor knows what he’s doing. Trust them. Just trust them._ He repeats this in his head before laying back down but even with these words reverberating in his psyche, he still gets no sleep that night. 

\----------------------

Dimitri stands in front of the Blue Lions before they begin their treck from the Monastery to the Red Canyon.  
“Listen up everyone.” He motions to his right, to the Professor. “The Professor will be giving us orders when we are on the battlefield. Listen to him at all costs. Stay calm and let’s get this over with as fast and efficiently as possible. I have full confidence in our Professor and all of you.” A small blush forms on his cheeks before he steps back to let the Professor speak. 

Byleth smiles at Dimitri and nods. “You all heard Dimitri, listen to me and you won’t die. Remember your training and make sure you are all sufficiently ready before we depart.” Byleth motions for the group to begin their march and each member falls into line.

“Psssst” whispers Sylvain from atop his horse down to Felix.  
Felix pretends not to hear and continues staring forward as they walk down the trail, farther and farther from Garreg Mach.  
“PSSSSST” Sylvain almost screams as he leans down just a small distance from the back of Felix’s head.  
Felix whips around and snaps, “What do you want?!”

“I just wanted to see if you’re feeling okay.” Sylvain pretends to look deeply hurt, “You’re oddly quiet and I noticed your droopy eyes and dark bags.” This time Sylvain seems to have genuine concern on his face. “You sure you’re up for this?”  
“Of course I am.” Felix snaps, a bit harsher than intended. His face softens just a bit. “I just didn’t get the best sleep last night is all.” He decides to leave it at that, seeing as it’s the truth. He does feel a bit tired but he’s had plenty of experience in the past working on little sleep. It’ll be fine. It’s everyone else he’s worried about. Mercedes is so fragile and not too good with a weapon, Annette is fierce with magic but she is small and rather defenseless. Sylvain has the tendency to blindly run into situations without assessing them first and--- his thoughts are cut off with the Professor’s words. “We’re here” is all he says before giving orders of positions that would be most effective to flank the enemy. 

_Thank the goddess Sylvain is with me._ Felix thinks for a moment before shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the intrusive thought.  
“Sylvain I want you to stay around Felix for the time being, both of you are strong enough that I trust you’ll be fine if you get in a tight situation. Mercedes, Ingrid, Annette and Ashe-- you all are with me, we are going to take those stairs there on the right and meet Dimitri, Dedue, Sylvain, and Felix on the other side of the field. I’m going to try to corner the enemy. Dimitri. Felix. I want you two in front of Dedue and Sylvain in the fight. Got it?”  
Felix nods and Dimitri gives an enthusiastic “yes Professor!”  
Felix sneers a bit at the prospect of having to fight side by side with Dimitri but that’s no matter. At least he gets to stand in front of Sylvain and take out most of the enemies that approach them. 

All of the students get into position and the confrontation begins.

\--------------------------

_This is easier than I thought it would be._ Felix thinks as he mindlessly slashes down enemies. Any enemy that manages to slip by him or Dimitri is easily dispatched by Sylvain from the top of his horse or by Dedue with one easy swing of his axe. Felix breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the bandit’s numbers dwindling. He turns slightly to see Sylvain has slashed through the last of the bandits that were surrounding them, giving them the all clear to advance forward. They reach the end of the stairs and see that the other group has already gotten into position on the opposite side of the field. The bandit leader stands in the middle of the field, surrounded by his underlings.  
Felix surges forward without much thought, anxious to end this fight soon. Dimitri follows close behind until there is a bit of distance between the two of them and Sylvain and Dedue.

 _No matter._ Felix thinks, _I can take the last of them with help from the boar._  
Felix lunges forward at a bandit and their swords manage to cling loudly on impact as they both jump back. They stare at each other before the bandit moves to slash in a downward angle towards Felix’s left arm. Felix holds his sword with his right arm so he quickly contorts his body so the brunt of the blow is taken by the steel. He pushes back hard and the bandit stumbles to the ground with a thump, before he could react Felix was already plunging his sword into the bandit’s chest. The bandit makes a gurgling sound as the blood fills his throat and slumps into the dirt with eyes staring up at nothing. 

Felix is breathing heavily, that took more out of him than it should have. _Damn I should have gotten more sleep._ He curses to himself and continues on.  
Across the field he can see that the Professor and the others are working in perfect harmony, if any of them are tired, they sure aren’t showing it. To his right Dimitri is fighting a mage but Sylvain quickly comes up behind him and skewers the mage on his lance. 

Felix smirks a bit to himself, eyes drooping slightly. _Who knew bandits were so weak?_  
Then he felt it. Searing, no, burning pain that blossomed across his right side in an instant. Felix glances down and sees red spread across his white uniform shirt. He notices a bandit he thought was dead smirking from his position on the dirt ground with a bloody long sword at his side.  
Felix curses loudly and slashes the bandit’s neck with his own sword. 

He grabs his side as blood steadily flows out of the wound and curses. Sylvain is at his side in an instant and dismounts his horse to hold Felix steady.  
“Felix. Let’s get you out of here and to a healer quickly. Just lean on my shoulder it won’t be---.”  
“No” Felix says defiantly, wriggling out of Sylvain’s grasp. “I’m fine.” He grabs a vulnery and downs it quickly, it stops the bleeding but the blood that he has lost already is affecting his vision slightly. 

Sylvain looks at Felix like he is the stupidest person on earth. His expression then quickly turns to annoyance and then anger. “Felix. Stop. You need a healer, don’t be stubborn let’s go.” He moves to grab Felix’s arm once more but Felix shirks away quickly and continues forward towards the few bandits that are left. “Fe-.” Sylvain weakly says as he watches Felix run into battle again. He sighs a shaky sigh before hopping on his horse and following him.  
Felix can feel the eyes of his classmates glance at him and his bloodied shirt but it doesn’t matter. He’s fine. It’s just a flesh wound.  
He stumbles back as one of the bandits pushes his sword against Felix’s. Felix thrusts the blade quickly into the bandit’s stomach, not even stopping to make sure if the bandit is fully dead before moving in on the leader. 

_Wait does the leader have a twin? Oh that’s just my double vision._ He thinks as he grimaces and raises his sword. The bandit leader is fast, too fast for any of his classmates to intercept. He charges at Felix and Felix swears he felt the tear of the axe in his shoulder blade before it even happened. He hits the ground and his cheek smashes into the dirt, blood seeping into a pool around his small form. Felix tries with the last bit of consciousness he has to lift his head out of the mud and blood mixture but it’s futile. He can’t see, he can’t reach his sword, the blood loss is making him even more dizzy. Is he going to die here? He can’t die here, on his first mission. _That’s pathetic._ He thinks. _You’re pathetic._ Before darkness overtakes him, he hears his name being screamed as well as the sound of the bandit leader falling to the ground next to him.

\----------------------------- 

_Why can’t I open my eyes?_ He thinks as he desperately tries to regain consciousness. He hears voices over him, urgent voices. _Was I taken prisoner? Am I dead? It hurts like a fucking bitch. If this is death, I’m not supposed to feel right?_ He can feel relief wash over him as he comes to the conclusion that no, he is in fact not dead.  
Darkness overtakes him again and it’s several hours later that he regains consciousness fully. When Felix opens his eyes he can see white. White sheets and bandages that seem to wrap around his entire torso. He looks to his side and sees Sylvain slumped over in a chair with his arms crossed.  
Felix goes to say something but all that comes out is a strangled sound as the pain overtakes him. Tears prick at the sides of both his eyes and every breath feels like a burden, the entire bed seems to shake as he trembles. 

Sylvain’s eyes pop open when he hears Felix’s cry and all he can say is “Fe…..Mercie! He’s awake!” Sylvain grabs Felix’s hand and his other hand rests on Felix’s cheek. “He isn’t looking good.” He says as Mercedes approaches the bed. “He’s so pale, well more than usual.” Sylvain lets out a choked laugh before his features turn dark. “What can I do?”  
“Well move out of the way first.” Mercedes says as sweetly as possible. She hovers her hand over Felix and he can feel relief wash over him. The healing magic extends into the depths of his body and works to mend the obvious issues of two giant and possibly fatal flesh wounds. The intense, hot pain stops and is replaced by a dull ache but he still feels exhausted and barely hanging on to consciousness. 

“That should do it for now. I have to keep giving him treatments every hour or so but there isn’t much I can do about the blood loss.” She sighs deeply and purses her lips, turning to Sylvain. “He will live. Don’t worry. For now he needs to rest and when he wakes up try to give him food and drink so he can recover faster.”  
Sylvain’s shoulders drop and he grabs Mercedes into a tight hug. “Thank you Mercie.” He mumbles into her hair before letting go.  
Mercedes smiles at Sylvain and rubs his arm before leaving to attend to the others that were wounded in the battle.  
Sylvain drops back down into his spot at Felix’s side and takes his hand once more. He leans down so that his lips are against the back of Felix’s hand. “Who knew you were so stupid and fragile?” He says with a dark laugh before humming softly, waiting for Felix to wake up again.

 _I can’t see. Why can’t I see? Where am I? Where is Sylvain. Sylvain? Sylvain! Sylvain!!_ Felix’s eyes shoot open fast and tears threaten to fall down his cheeks. “Shhh I’m right here, I’m okay.” Sylvain says from his side while stroking Felix’s arm.  
“Sylvain?” Felix croaks out. _Why is my voice so rough? It hurts to talk, I need--_ “Water.”  
Sylvain quickly stands up and grabs a glass of lukewarm water he prepared. He slowly tips the edge of the glass against Felix’s lips.  
Felix can’t get enough, he chugs down the glass and repeats “water” at Sylvain.  
Sylvain sighs and quickly refills the glass with the bucket of water that Mercedes brought earlier that day. Felix quickly downs the entire glass before slumping further into the bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Sylvain sounds like he wants to say more but doesn’t.  
“It hurts like a bitch, it’s hard to breathe, and I can’t see straight.” Felix complains like he’s ten years old again, if it was anyone but Sylvain he would never admit to such weakness. 

“Fe..” Sylvain starts, “why did you run into battle while already heavily wounded?” There’s anger in Sylvains voice as he sits accusing Felix.  
“Why does it matter?” Felix retorts with a weak scoff.  
Sylvain’s fist clenches, unclenches, and then clenches again before he slams the bedside table hard. Felix flinches and looks up at him with wide eyes.  
“Bullshit Felix. Bullshit!” He yells. The others in the infirmary are starting to take notice but that doesn’t deter Sylvain. “Does our promise mean anything to you? Do you really want to die so much that you’re willing to leave me behind? Goddess you’re so selfish, you couldn’t have just listened to me and went to a healer? You just had to prove yourself back there didn’t you?” He pauses for a second, regaining his composure and letting out a deep, shaky sigh. “When you hit the ground and I saw all that blood surrounding you…” He stops for a moment. “My mind went blank, I went into a blind panic and my throat is still raw from screaming your name you know.” His brows knit together and his lip quivers very slightly, Felix only notices it because he’s used to the little things Sylvain does to show emotion. There’s a long silence between the two boys before Felix says roughly, “I’m sorry.” 

He meets Sylvain’s eyes and smirks. “You look like shit Syl.”  
“Yeah no thanks to you.” He frowns a bit, “I’m going to take a bath, when I come back I’ll bring you something to eat. Oh also I bet word has gone around by now that you’re awake so expect a visit from the Professor, as well as a tongue lashing.” He says the last part with a smirk before turning on his heel and leaving the infirmary. 

Felix sits still and stares at the infirmary wall for what seems like hours before he can hear footsteps approaching his bed.  
Afraid to look at the Professor, Felix turns his head but does not meet dark green eyes.  
“Look at me” says the Professor firmly.  
Felix weakly lifts his gaze so that he is staring at the Professor.  
“What was that?” Byleth says through clenched teeth.  
“What was…..what?” Felix knows exactly what Byleth is asking but wants to drag it out a bit more because he is unsure of the answer himself.  
“Why in the hell did you decide to make one stupid decision after the other?” The Professor says evenly without taking his gaze off of amber eyes.  
“I--.” Felix stops to think. “I was desperate.” He mumbles.  
Byleth just continues to stare at him.  
“I was desperate to protect….Sylvain.” Felix can feel his face redden, oh goddess this is embarrassing. However, Byleth shows no sign of laughter or amusement.  
“You want to protect Sylvain?” He raises an eyebrow.  
“Yes.” Felix says evenly.  
“How can a dead man protect anyone?” Byleth starts to tap his foot against the tile floor. “If you want to protect Sylvain, maybe take care of yourself first. I understand you two are….close. But personal feelings should not affect your performance in battle.” Byleth’s face softens a little. “Sylvain will always be okay. Trust me. I will protect him and you and everyone else. No one will die under my command. Got it? So focus on yourself and what I tell you in the next battle. Until then, heal up and once you’re fully healed you’ll be cleaning the library for the next few weeks. Alone.” Byleth reaches over to pat Felix’s good shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He gives Felix a smile before leaving.  
“Whhheeooowwweeee.” Sylvain says in a whistle/singing tone. “That’s rough dude, library duty for the foreseeable future.” He says this as he walks through the door, balancing two big meals in both hands. “I didn’t want to interrupt so I just stood outside until he was done lecturing you.”  
Felix’s face turns fully rose-colored. “Were you there the entire conversation?” _Please goddess if you have any love left for me, please let his answer be no_.  
“Yeah dude I heard everything about wanting to protect me and stuff. Touching really.” Sylvain gives Felix a giant smile while placing the food tray across his lap. Sylvain plops down in the chair he was originally occupying and starts to dig into his meal. He finally looks up because the silence has been stretching for too long and sees a wide eyed and red Felix staring back at him. He laughs. 

“Fe, don’t worry. I want to protect you too. Always. You mean more to me than anyone.”  
Felix shakes his head and scoffs. “Yeah? Really? I mean more to you than the countless women you constantly flirt with? Give me a break, you weren’t meant to hear that conversation and I’m sorry you did. Don’t think too much into it.” His face still is a deep shade of red despite his words.  
Sylvain sighs and places down his fork. “Listen Felix, we grew up together. We made a promise to die together. Everything I do is with you by my side and you think I care about random women more than I care about you? You’re everything I have Fe. I don’t even want to think about your lifeless form on the battlefield, I think that was too much for me to handle.” Tears start to poke out of Sylvains eyes but he pays them no mind and continues. “When I saw you lying there, everything I felt for years came bubbling to the surface. Everything I’ve ever wanted to say to you. Suddenly it felt like I would never get that chance. So I’m going to tell you now in case something happens to me or you again.” He pauses, mulling over his next sentence.

“I love you Fe. I always have. Ever since we were kids. Ever since we made that dumb promise. Ever since we joined the academy. You’re all that ever mattered to me.”  
Felix stares at him. There is silence for a while before he speaks.  
“Then why the hell do you flirt with women constantly if you’re in love with me?” He says this with venom in his voice.  
“It’s how I cope. Girls only want me for my crest, I know that so my fucked up mind decided to hurt them before they hurt me. It’s a game to me. It became almost compulsory to fuck with girls. I’m messed up Fe. I thought you wouldn’t like me so I pushed those feelings down for years and played with girls instead.” Sylvain looks down. “I realize now I’m saying all this and I still don’t even know if you feel the same.” 

“Of course I fucking do you dumbass.” Felix scoffs.  
Sylvain looks up at him and instantly he gently reaches his hand to the back of Felix’s head and pulls him into a small kiss. Felix groans into the kiss as the pain from the sudden movement gnaws into his wounds and Sylvain pulls back at this.  
“I’m sorry.” Sylvain mumbles.  
“Don’t be.” Felix says simply as he weakly grabs Sylvain’s hand before falling asleep once more.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic ever so be gentle haha, always open to criticism so please let me know! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> EDIT: just made a twitter lol it's @fraldarius_rae if anyone would like to follow! 
> 
> Stay tuned for next fic! probably going to write this pair again cause i love them too much <3


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